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Title: Myanmar gang-rape victim wins legal battle with military
Sub-title: Three rapists were jailed for 20 years with hard labour in a case that pitted a 36-year-old mother of four against the powerful military.
Description: "Lodging a legal complaint pitted the 36-year-old mother of four against Myanmar’s most powerful institution, whose soldiers have long been accused by rights groups of using rape as a weapon of war in the country’s conflict zones. The crime was committed in June in northern Rakhine state – the site of a nearly two-year battle between the military and the Arakan Army, which is fighting for more autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine population. “Many women like me have already endured the same thing,” Thein Nu – who has been given a pseudonym to protect her identity – told the AFP news agency. “If I didn’t reveal this, it could lead to many more in Rakhine [being abused].” Her victory came after an initial denial from the military, which said she made up the allegations, and she still faces the glare of widespread social stigma, including from her husband who refuses to speak to her. Watershed moment? “I am both happy and sad,” she said, still in disbelief that the military tribunal ruled in her favour. “I don’t entirely believe this verdict will stop the rape and abuse against women in conflict areas because they (the military) are unreliable people with two faces.” In a rare acknowledgement of wrongdoing, the military on Saturday announced the verdict and sentence against the three rapists, trumpeting its own “transparent” investigation of the case. But observers warned it is too soon to judge whether Thein Nu’s victory will be a watershed moment for the armed forces – which ruled Myanmar outright until 2011 and still holds sway over many aspects of life in the country..."
Source/publisher: Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication: 2020-12-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Thousands protest against Myanmar army after woman's killing
Description: "Myanmar: Several thousand protesters marched in southeast Myanmar on Tuesday (Jul 28) to demand the military's withdrawal from the area and an end to rights abuses after soldiers allegedly killed an unarmed woman from the Karen ethnic group. In a rare acknowledgement of wrongdoing, the military confirmed that two soldiers had been arrested for the shooting of Naw Mu Naw, 40, and robbery of her gold jewellery in Dwe Lo township in Karen state on July 16. The court-martial of the arrested men was already underway, military spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP on Tuesday. But the killing has reignited anger in a state that has for decades been the scene of a bloody civil war between the military and ethnic Karen militants. Naw Mu Naw's murder sparked a wave of protests over the last two weeks, but Tuesday's was by far the biggest. An estimated 5,000 people turned out -- many dressed in traditional clothes and waving the Karen blue, white and red flag as they marched to state capital Hpa-an. Advertisement "We demand the military withdraw because we're worried we might also be shot and killed," said 57-year-old Khwe Ni. Karen National Union (KNU) rebels signed a ceasefire in 2012 with the military after more than 60 years of fighting, one of a number of groups to join the country's now flagging peace process. Unrest has flared up again in a state divided into two parallel jurisdictions, one centrally run and one under governance of the KNU, which collects taxes and runs local police, schools and healthcare. The Karen accuse the military of building roads and other infrastructure to encroach on their territory. Zaw Min Tun told AFP the military would not withdraw from the area, but said "rules would be tightened", without giving further details. Tens of thousands of Karen refugees still live in camps along the Myanmar-Thai border. Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson called for the two soldiers to be handed over to a civilian court, condemning the lack of transparency in military trials..."
Source/publisher: Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication: 2020-07-29
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Woman shot in back while fleeing fighting in Rakhine
Sub-title: The 44-year-old appears to be in stable condition at the Mrauk U hospital
Description: "A mother of four was shot in the back while fleeing fighting near her home in northern Rakhine state on Monday. Ma Tin Kyi, 44, is currently being treated at Mrauk U hospital. She was shot as she fled fighting in Pha Pyo, an ethnically Chin village in Rakhine's Minbya township that was hit by fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) on July 20. “She heard gunshots and fled her house but was shot in the back when she went outside,” Shwe Kyaw Tin, the victim’s brother-in-law, told Myanmar Now. “Bullets hit every house in the village but no one was hurt except my sister-in-law,” he added. “Everyone else hid.” Ma Tin Kyi is the mother of three teenagers and one 20-year-old. She was first taken to Minbya hospital then later transferred to Mrauk U, where she is currently being treated. Relatives told Myanmar Now she is conscious and responsive but that the bullet is still lodged inside of her. A military convoy traveling through Minbya to Kan Ni village via the Yangon-Sittwe highway was ambushed by AA troops about six miles from Pha Pyo that night, according to a statement released by the military on Tuesday. Battalions arrived to support the convoy, the military said, and several Tatmadaw soldiers were injured in the ensuing clash. Minbya township MP Hla Thein Aung told Myanmar Now shots had been fired from the nearby Kyein Taung hill, and that fighting near Pha Pyo is still ongoing. “They are still firing artillery shells,” he said Tuesday. Most of the more than 400 families in Pha Pyo, including Ma Tin Kyi's, are ethnically Chin. They have largely chosen to remain in the village for now, but they told Myanmar Now they are worried for their safety. The AA has been fighting the Myanmar military for greater autonomy in Rakhine state since at least 2018. The military and central government have labelled the AA as terrorists. On April 20, a WHO driver carrying Covid-19 swab samples to testing sites was killed in Minbya when his vehicle caught in fighting. On July 16 the Tatmadaw announced a new “anti-terrorism” operation against AA insurgents in nearby Rathedaung township. Two days later - after about a month of relative quiet - fighting in Minbya resumed. An alliance of ethnic armed groups including the AA said in a July 21 statement that labeling the AA an “unlawful, terrorist” organisation only hinders the stalled peace process between the military and the several ethnic groups fighting for autonomy..."
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Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2020-07-22
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Japan: Cancel Financial Grant to Myanmar Police
Topic: Crisis and Conflict , Disasters and Displaced Populations , Sexual Violence and Rape , Women and Armed Conflict
Sub-title: End Assistance to All Military-Controlled Entities
Topic: Crisis and Conflict , Disasters and Displaced Populations , Sexual Violence and Rape , Women and Armed Conflict
Description: "The Japanese government should immediately cancel plans to donate money to purchase vehicles and communications equipment for the Myanmar police force, Human Rights Watch said today. The police force, which operates under the auspices of the military, outside the control of the civilian government, has a well-documented record of serious human rights violations. On July 2, 2020, Japan’s Foreign Ministry announced a grant of 100 million yen (US$930,000) to the Myanmar police for the purpose of purchasing vehicles and wireless equipment for “protecting dignitaries.” The Foreign Ministry claimed the donations would “strengthen the Myanmar police’s ability to carry out public security measures,” create “social stability,” and contribute to Myanmar's “socio-economic development.” “It’s inexplicable that the Japanese government would try to curry favor with Myanmar’s abusive security apparatus by providing financial assistance to the police,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “Instead of supporting Myanmar’s police, Japan should be helping the victims of rights abuses and ethnic cleansing by working with other donor governments to hold the security forces accountable.” Myanmar’s police acted as a pillar of repression during Myanmar’s 50 years of military rule, arbitrarily arresting dissidents and student activists, engaging in widespread torture, and creating a climate of fear in the country, Human Rights Watch said. The police remain abusive and unconstrained, in large part because the military-drafted constitution maintains military control of the police. The police operate under the authority of the Home Ministry, which is led by a minister who the constitution mandates must be a serving military officer, and operates under the de facto control of the military..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-07-23
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Gender, Violence and Ethnic Conflict in Myanmar
Description: "Despite the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2015, Myanmar is still at war with itself as fighting in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states shows no sign of ending. The loss of human life, as well as the material destruction and shattering of local communities caused by the 70-year-long conflict, continues to incur heavy social and economic costs in the country. While war affects all, it affects men and women differently. In any conflict setting, gender creates expectations and exposes individuals to different dangers and vulnerabilities. In Myanmar’s conflict areas, many boys and men have had first-hand experience of violence as soldiers and live with its physical and psychological consequences. In these regions as well, many girls and women face an acute danger of gender-based violence as their bodies are objectified for war purposes and human trafficking. The different impacts of war on women and men have to be taken seriously to move the peace process forward and to design policies that address the long-lasting consequences of war. In Myanmar as elsewhere, decentralization is considered as a democratization tool, a means to achieving better government accountability in the delivery of public services and a gateway to women’s participation. The conflict and its political and economic legacies not only perpetuate, but may also reinforce gender practices, inequalities, and discrimination. If gender needs and inequalities are not addressed, the very success of democracy, the peace process, and decentralization in Myanmar will remain unequal for men and women. In this piece, we bring together evidence from local communities to examine some of the impact of conflict on male and female populations. We collected evidence for this paper in 2018 and 2019 as part of an International Development Research Centre-funded project—a collaborative project between the University of Toronto and the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security. The research team interviewed local stakeholders such as women’s organizations, ethnic armed organizations, politicians, and government officials. It also conducted a survey of 2,747 household heads in Chin, Kachin, Karen, and Magwe (hereafter referred as the UofT-IDRC survey). This paper is not an exhaustive list of the impacts of conflict on gender, but highlights some of the themes that emerged frequently during our work. Boys and Men: Fighting, Conscription, and Gender Expectations Civil wars have significant impacts on both men and women. But boys and men often have a particularly direct, first-hand experience of conflict and violence through their experience as soldiers. Many of them have volunteered to join Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAO) out of loyalty to their ethno-national group and because of feelings of injustice and grievances against the government and the Tatmadaw. But mixed with these motivations are also gendered expectations about the proper behavior for men. Many communities and families expect men to assume the role of “protectors” of the community. In time of crisis, this expectation is only strengthened, which factors heavily in the decision of boys and men to join EAOs. In many communities, there is no stigma in joining an EAO, but boys feel a sense of responsibility toward the community and see their involvement in military activities as a source of respect..."
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Source/publisher: "Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2020-07-08
Date of entry/update: 2020-07-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Women and COVID-19 in Myanmar
Sub-title: consider the specific vulnerabilities women face in Myanmar in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Description: "Women are playing an indispensable role in the global response against the coronavirus pandemic. Acting as healthcare workers, scientists, researchers, social mobilizers, political leaders and caregivers, women are at the forefront of this fight. However, while everyone is affected by COVID-19, this pandemic amplifies pre-existing gender inequalities and makes women particularly vulnerable, a reality that policy-makers have yet to take into account. In Myanmar, women face various obstacles as internally displaced peoples, garment workers, unpaid labourers, and victims of overarching conflict. Not only has COVID-19 affected these populations’ capacities to support themselves, the impact in these sectors serve to elucidate existing gender inequalities women face in Myanmar. This article was written as part of an International Development Research Centre (IDRC)-funded project–a collaboration between the University of Toronto and the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security–on gender and decentralization in Myanmar. Drawing on some of the data collected in Myanmar from 2018 to 2019, this text will reflect on women’s vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of a global pandemic. COVID-19 in Myanmar Myanmar’s healthcare system has improved drastically since transitioning to semi-civilian rule in 2011, but remains underfunded and understaffed. The COVID-19 crisis is thus taking place amidst an already overstretched healthcare system that faces important challenges, such as gaps in access between rural and urban communities; the lowest number of intensive care beds per capita among lower and lower-middle-income countries of the region (except Bangladesh)[1]; and fewer than 200 ventilators. So far, the government of Myanmar’s response has been haphazard, at best. The country, most likely, has a higher number of COVID-19 cases than it purports. However, the actual number is difficult to assess given limited testing capacity and heavily regulated media. The government spokesperson Zaw Htay first responded to the pandemic by stating that “lifestyle and diet measures” protected Myanmar citizens from the coronavirus infection, reporting its first case only at the end of March. Although the government has distanced itself from these initial remarks, its response continues to be inadequate..."
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Source/publisher: "Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2020-06-15
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (Shan)
Description: "...The first resolution on Women, Peace and Security, Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR1325), was unanimously adopted by United Nations Security Council on 31 October 2000. SCR1325 marked the first time the Security Council addressed the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women; recognized the under-valued and under-utilized contributions women make to conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution, and peace-building. It also stressed the importance of women’s equal and full participation as active agents in peace and security.."
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Source/publisher: Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN)
Date of publication: 00-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : PDF
Size: 374.8 KB
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Title: Rape in Myanmar is 'silent emergency'
Description: "Officially, rape hardly happens in Myanmar and domestic abuse is non-existent. The reality? Violence against women is so pervasive it is regarded as normal -- and as a result -- woefully underreported, says lawyer and activist Hla Hla Yee. "Domestic abuse in Myanmar is regarded as a family matter and even if it is reported, the police fail to take action," she explains, adding that many still view it as a normal part of marriage that women must endure. The UN has warned violence against women and girls is a "silent emergency" in the country, with incidents spanning groping on public transport to trafficking, and has called for a zero-tolerance approach in communities, police, and the justice system. Analysis by the Demographic and Health Survey suggested at least one-fifth of women were abused by a partner in 2016. According to government statistics, there were 1,405 rape cases in 2017, up from 1,110 the year before -- around two thirds committed against children..."
Source/publisher: Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2020-03-02
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Rape, revenge and reactionary tales
Topic: film, sexism, gender, sexual abuse, cinema
Sub-title: A recently released Myanmar horror film is crassly misogynist in its portrayal of sexual violence, but is part of a much broader trend in an industry dominated by male filmmakers.
Topic: film, sexism, gender, sexual abuse, cinema
Description: "WHAT IF Mya Mya, the lead character of the Myanmar horror film of the same name, released on February 6, were to enact revenge on the men who gang-raped her, not by menacing them as a forlorn ghost, but by seeking justice as a tenacious survivor? For the moment, such a plot turn appears to be beyond the imagination of Myanmar filmmakers, who are virtually all male and prefer to portray women rape victims as either killed in the act or driven inexorably to suicide by the shame. Their death, after all, provides a handy motive for male lead characters to avenge them in thrilling feats of heroism. One thing that saves the character of Mya Mya – a feisty Yangon factory worker and strike-organiser before her death – from further humiliation is that, while haunting the men who raped and murdered her, she does not do so half-naked, despite what the film’s titillating promotional poster might suggest. However, this is small consolation when the making of the film itself was a feat of sexual exploitation. When the casting call for the three “rapist” roles was made last July on Facebook, many male users tagged their friends, saying with boorish humour that their friends would make good “rapists” and encouraging them to apply. Auditions for short-listed aspirants took place on September 8 in Yangon’s Kandawgyi Park in full view of the media and public..."
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Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2020-02-29
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Two Rohingya women killed in Myanmar shelling
Description: "Two women, one pregnant, were killed and seven other people were wounded when shells hit a Rohingya village in Myanmar's Rakhine state. The army rejected accusations from a local lawmaker, a villager and the Arakan Army (AA), a rebel group, that the Myanmar military was responsible for the shelling at Kin Taung, two days after the United Nations' highest court ordered Myanmar to protect the Rohingya. Maung Kyaw Zan, a member of the national parliament for Buthidaung township in northern Rakhine state, said shells fired from a nearby battalion hit Kin Taung village in the middle of the night. "There was no fighting, they just shot artillery to a village without a battle," he told Reuters by phone, adding it was the second time this year that civilians had been killed. Soe Tun Oo, a Rohingya villager living a mile from the village, told Reuters by phone that two houses were destroyed. A military statement confirmed the deaths, but blamed the AA, a Rakhine ethnic rebel group which has been fighting for greater autonomy in the state for more than a year. Two military spokesmen did not answer calls seeking comment. "AA terrorists committed firing at Bengali villages with the use of heavy weapons and planting mines," the statement said. The Arakan Army said in a statement on its website that there was "ample evidence" that the army committed the killings without giving specific details. It accused Myanmar's forces of "deliberate, false and misleading lies" aimed at discrediting the group. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the details of the incident. At a press conference on Feb 3, the army objected to the story about the deaths that Reuters had published on Jan 25, saying the account was biased. It referred specifically to the headline on the story, which blamed the army for the deaths, citing the member of parliament. It said it had filed a complaint to the Myanmar Press Council (MPC), which adjudicates disputes between authorities and news media..."
Source/publisher: "CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication: 2020-02-04
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Women Exchange Report 2010 (in Shan)
Description: "...Since 1999, MAP Foundation has supported migrant and refugee women in coming together once a month to challenge the isolation imposed upon them as “aliens” in a foreign country, in addition to social norms that consider women second to men with limited rights. Begun in Chiang Mai, these women-only spaces became very popular and were replicated along the Thai-Myanmar border. Today, migrant and refugee women from Myanmar of different ethnicities, ages, and occupations meet monthly in different areas called “Women Exchange,” these forums have become a network of information that can be spread throughout the migrant community and inform donors, researchers, and policy makers of the situation on the ground. While each WE organizes a committee to run itself, MAP provides financial assistance, trainings, and resources to facilitate capacity building on a range of topics, including sexual and reproductive health rights, living wage, women economic rights, and leadership development.
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Source/publisher: MAP Foundation
Date of publication: 2011-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : PDF
Size: 5.83 MB
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Title: Myanmar inquiry into treatment of Rohingya criticised after finding no evidence of rape
Sub-title: Government-appointed investigators failed to meet alleged victims living in Bangladesh
Description: "A Myanmar government-backed inquiry that dismissed allegations of genocide against the Rohingya has been condemned as a deeply flawed cover-up, after it failed to interview a single victim of rape. The full report of the panel inquiry, which has been criticised by the UN, was not made publicly available. It is not clear how many Rohingya were interviewed by the panel. An executive summary of the findings were released just days before the International Court of Justice, which is hearing a genocide case against Myanmar, is due to announce whether or not it will request for emergency measures to prevent further harm against Rohingya. In 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya people fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh following a military-led crackdown in Rakhine state in which villages were burned, women raped and thousands killed. A UN fact-finding mission later declared that the violence had “genocidal intent”. The long-overdue report by the Myanmar-appointed inquiry stated that it did not travel to meet any of the more than one million Rohingya refugees living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, blaming the neighbouring country’s government for failing to facilitate visits..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication: 2020-01-22
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar’s Arakan Army probes alleged rape of Chin woman
Sub-title: The Arakan Army (AA) has launched an investigation over the alleged rape of a Chin woman by one of its fighters in Paletwa Township in Chin State, a spokesperson for the ethnic armed group said on Sunday.
Description: "Khaing Thu Kha, spokesperson of AA, said the probe against the alleged sexual abuse is being carried out but did not provide additional details. “We are investigating the case. We will take harsh actions if our members really abused villagers and women like what they claimed,” he said. “We will go to the village and meet with the community leaders to find out whether what they said is correct or not,” he said, adding a statement will be issued as soon as the investigation is completed. Aside from the alleged rape of a Chin woman, the Arakan Army fighters were also accused of abducting a school headmaster and two village officials in Paletwa who tried to stop them from abducting a young Chin woman on Tuesday. The three captives were later found dead in the forest in the forest between Inn Kho Wa village and Sein Sin village, according to the Khumi Affairs Coordination Council, a local civil society group, in a statement issued Saturday. Khaing Thu Kha expressed doubt about the truthfulness of the statement, saying the Tatmadaw appears to be creating racial problem between Rakhine and Chin ethnic people. Colonel Win Zaw Oo, head of Western Command, said the actions of the Arakan Army in Paletwa is not acceptable and will be dealt with without delay. “They are brash. We are carrying out clearance operation. Now we’ve heard that AA has blocked Kyee Lay village and we will deal with this matter,” he told The Myanmar Times. According to local civil society groups in Chin, the AA is still holding captive Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House) legislator U Hwei Tin and 15 other Chin ethnic people..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2020-01-12
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: There can be no real accountability in Myanmar if women remain on the sidelines
Description: "For decades, ethnic women in Myanmar have documented acts of sexual violence committed against them in the hopes that, one day, perpetrators will be held accountable for their crimes. They had reasons for hope as recently as five years ago, when the government of Myanmar endorsed the international Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict and Aung Sung Suu Kyi was elected the first woman leader of the country in a historic victory. Today, violent conflict between military and ethnic groups remains as intense as ever, while wartime sexual and gender-based violence continues unabated and unpunished. The direct and later indirect rule by the military since 1962 has had a long-term effect on the lives of women in Myanmar. They expected their fundamental rights to be restored under the new quasi-civilian arm of government, led by Suu Kyi. Instead, the web of military presence and business interests in ethnic areas of the country continue to devastate ethnic women. In August, the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar released a report documenting cases of gang rape, sexual slavery, and other forms of sexual abuse in heavily-militarized areas in several states: Shan, Kachin, and Rakhine. Investigators found that sexual violence has become a regular tactic used against civilians by the Tatmadaw, the official name of the country’s armed forces..."
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Source/publisher: "Women's Media Center" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-11-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: China’s Bride Trafficking Problem
Sub-title: Over generations, China’s one-child policy drove a demographic disaster that has sparked a devastatingly cruel trade.
Description: "China has a bride trafficking problem. The country’s longstanding one-child policy and preference for boys created a huge gender imbalance. The difficulty many Chinese men now face finding wives, combined with a lack of protections in China, is driving a brutal business of selling women and girls from neighboring countries. The Chinese government’s main response for many years seemed to be simply to ignore growing allegations about authorities’ complicity in these crimes. But the problem is becoming too big to ignore; the government’s stonewalling is gradually being replaced by a mixture of criminal justice and propaganda responses, neither of which get to the real issue of gender discrimination. The one-child policy, in force from 1979 to 2015, prompted many parents to feel that if they were permitted only one child, that child should be a son. This was driven in part by the expectation, particularly in rural areas, that daughters marry and join their husband’s family, while sons stay with, and support, their parents. Over generations this policy drove a demographic disaster: China now has 30 to 40 million more men than women..."
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Source/publisher: "The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication: 2019-10-30
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Gender Inequality and Sexual Violence in Myanmar: Part of the Problem is Preventing a Cure
Description: "When it comes to protecting women from violence in Myanmar, what little difference a year makes. Last year during the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the Government pledged to submit a Prevention of and Protection from Violence Against Women (PoVAW) Law to Parliament in early 2019 and give “priority and focus” to protecting women and children from violence. As we approach another 16 Days of Activism, the PoVAW law, in the drafting stage since 2013, has not yet been submitted to Parliament, making clear that protecting women from violence is far from a priority or focus for the current Government. In a country with escalating rates of sexual violence, continued inaction puts women’s lives in jeopardy, and is a sad reminder that the gender inequality that leads to violence against women is also inhibiting the passage of a PoVAW Law which would protect them. Statistics across Myanmar show an upward trend in reports of sexual violence, and one root cause of sexual violence is gender inequality. In August, a UN investigatory body declared that in Myanmar “[s]exual violence is an outcome of a larger problem of gender inequality and the lack of rule of law.” Myanmar is ranked 150 of 167 countries on the Georgetown Institute of Women Peace and Security’s Women Peace and Security Index and 148 of 189 on the 2018 UN Gender Inequality Index, two recent measures of women’s well-being worldwide..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-11-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar slumps 31 spots to 150th on women, peace, security index
Sub-title: Myanmar plunged 31 places and remained the worst performer in the region on an index that measures women’s wellbeing and empowerment in homes, communities, and societies, according to a study released today.
Description: "The Women, Peace and Security Index by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Safety slashed Myanmar’s rank from 119th in 2017 to 150th this year, marking the largest drop ever in the index. The index ranks 167 countries in terms of inclusion, security and justice for women. It drew data from international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations, the World Bank, and others to provide comprehensive insights into women’s well-being and empowerment in each country. “[Myanmar’s] rank of 150th reflects, among other things, the worst rate of organised violence in the region,” according to the index, which cited the “systemic, ongoing oppression and gross human rights violations” against minority Muslims in northern Rakhine State. A woman activist in Myanmar, Ma Thinzar Shunlei Yi, said, “I wasn’t surprised the rank dropped while we are in the middle of armed conflicts.” “The ranking highlights the situation that we all still have to be aware and strive to overcome an imbalanced society,” she added..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Trafficked Myanmar Woman Returns Home After Seven Years in China
Description: "A Myanmar woman trafficked to China seven years ago and who bore four children while in captivity has been returned to her family, an NGO worker and the woman’s sister told RFA Monday. The 47-year-old woman, whose leg had been broken by her captors, was found by Chinese police and transferred to Myanmar authorities in the border town of Muse in Myanmar’s northern Shan state on Nov. 1, they said. She was then sent back to her home in Bago city in central Myanmar’s Bago region on Sunday. Her relatives requested that RFA’s Myanmar Service not publish the name of the woman. “She has a broken leg and is mentally disabled,” said Thaung Htun from the Muse Humanitarian Organization which helped the woman return home. “She was trafficked, forced to get pregnant, and has had four babies,” he said. “She is now 47 years old. They must have thrown her out as she is getting old.” Thaung Htun said Chinese authorities found the woman throwing away Chinese currency notes along a road, Thaung Htun said..."
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-11-04
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: UN report condemns sexual violence by Myanmar military
Description: "Sexual violence carried out by Myanmar's security forces against the country's Muslim Rohingya minority was so widespread and severe that it demonstrates intent to commit genocide as well as warrants prosecution for war crimes and crimes against humanity, a UN report charged on Thursday (Aug 22). The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar said it found the country's soldiers "routinely and systematically employed rape, gang rape and other violent and forced sexual acts against women, girls, boys, men and transgender people in blatant violation of international human rights law." Its report on sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar covers the Kachin and Shan ethnic minorities in northern Myanmar as well as the Rohingya in the western state of Rakhine. The report, released in New York, charges that the genocidal intent of Myanmar's military toward the Rohingya was demonstrated "by means of killing female members of the Rohingya community, causing Rohingya women and girls serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting on the Rohingya women and girls conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Rohingya in whole or in part, and imposing measures that prevented births within the group." Myanmar's government and military have consistently denied carrying out human rights violations, and said its military operations in Rakhine were justified in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents..."
Source/publisher: "The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Date of publication: 2019-08-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Can sex ed counter rape in Myanmar?
Description: "Only a few months ago, Myanmar was shocked with news of the rape of a three-year-old girl who has since been given the pseudonym “Victoria”. Victoria was raped at a private nursery home in May. Then in September, she was able to testify through a video conference and identify her rapist. “When the court showed the girl the picture of the suspects, she was able to point out the individual on the presented picture, and she was so angry seeing these pictures that she stomped angrily at them with her heel,” Victoria’s lawyer was quoted as saying. News of the rape sparked outrage throughout Myanmar and brought attention to the rising number of rape cases in the country. In February 2018, Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs released its previous year’s statistics on rape cases. The ministry reported that rape cases rose from 1,100 in 2016 to 1,405 in 2017, which includes a rise in rapes of adult women from 429 to 508 and rapes of underage girls from 671 to 897. But more than that, the unfortunate tragedy that befell Victoria also helped to highlight the lack of knowledge regarding sex in Myanmar, as well as the urgent need to stop viewing sex education as a taboo topic but as a necessity. Hla Hla Win, a former English teacher who founded Myanmar-based 360ed, a social enterprise that seeks to revamp education with technology, was recently quoted as saying that the case was “obvious evidence” that the country needed to seriously think of allowing its citizens to be exposed to the right kind of sex education..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication: 2019-10-25
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: “It’s your fault!” – Rape in Myanmar
Description: "“Traffickers target youths who have bad reputations or low moral character more than youths who don’t understand.” This is what Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Director General U Win Naing Tun was quoted as saying recently when talking about human trafficking. Most human trafficking in Myanmar involves the selling of women as brides to China. Naing Tun’s words seem, at least at first glance, to have a tinge of victim-blaming in them. Especially as he went on to explain that unlike youth of “low moral character”, other youths could testify against their human traffickers in court, “so they avoid them”. While it would be unfair to accuse Naing Tun of victim-blaming with such limited information available on the statements he made, it is also true that victim-blaming has been a rampant practice in Myanmar. Even people of authority have been reported as practicing victim-blaming, especially concerning rape. Back in 2017, in an interview with local news, Lunn Aung San, the head of police in Ah Pyauk, Taukkyi township, said that most cases of sexual assault or abuse arise due to the woman victim’s choices..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication: 2019-07-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Woman Sentenced to 80 Years for Human Trafficking in Myanmar’s Shan State
Topic: China, Human Trafficking, Muse, Taunggyi
Topic: China, Human Trafficking, Muse, Taunggyi
Description: "A court in the Shan State capital of Taunggyi sentenced a woman accused of human trafficking to 80 years in prison last week, according to police in Muse. Ma Htay Win was found guilty on four counts of human trafficking, each of which carries a 20-year sentence, according to U Kyaw Nyunt, an officer with an anti-human trafficking police force on the China-Myanmar border. The cases involved three women from Pekon Township and one from Sesai Township, all of whom who were trafficked into China. Ma Htay Win was charged under Article 28 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law. U Kyaw Nyunt said that the victims escaped, returned from China and then opened cases against Ma Htay Win. “When they arrived at the border in Muse, they told us that they were from Pekon so we sent them to Pekon and they opened cases at the Pekon Police Station,” the officer said. “[Ma Htay Win] lured these women and trafficked them to Chinese men. She was the main person involved in this case.” According to the anti-human trafficking police in Muse, many cases have shown that Myanmar women are trafficked into China and then forced to marry Chinese men..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-10-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Children and women in ancient Myanmar tribe wear brass rings around their necks to make them longer and 'look like dragons'… with some even struggling to eat when they are fitted
Description: "Women and children lengthen their necks with 22-pound brass rings to 'look like dragons' as part of an ancient tribe in Asia. It is a tradition in the Kayah state in Myanmar, formerly Burma, and makes the Kayan people distinct across ethnic groups in south east Asia. Some women felt they were unattractive without the rings and others felt the pressure to wear them for visiting tourists. The rings were used to protect people from being attacked by tigers and others claim they were a tribute to the group's 'dragon mother'. Rings have also been traditionally seen as symbols of wealth and reserved for favourite daughters, as a more common theory. Padung author Pascal Khoo Thwe told Channel New Asia that 'our mother was a dragon' and 'they have the same sort of neck'. He claims to have grown up with his grandmother wearing 14-inch high sets of rings. Mu Lone, 88, told the Mirror how women felt they 'weren't beautiful without neck-rings' in her time..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Daily Mail" (UK)
Date of publication: 2019-10-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar's women trafficked to China at risk of sexual violence
Sub-title: Traffickers are increasingly preying on the despair of women who feel they have no choice but to seek work across the border.
Description: "Conflict in Myanmar's northern state of Kachin is forcing more people from their homes. A ceasefire between the government and the Kachin Independence Army ended in 2011. Since then, instability has been putting many families at risk, including women who are being trafficked to China..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication: 2019-07-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Seoul Conference on Rohingya Genocide [Day 2] Wrap-up by Dr. Zarni
Description: "International Conference on Protection of Rohingya Survivors and Accountability for Genocide "Rape as a Weapon of Wars and Genocides, Past and Present in the Region"..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Free Rohingya Coalition"
Date of publication: 2019-10-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Trafficked: Three survivors of human trafficking share their stories
Topic: Khawng Nu’s story
Topic: Khawng Nu’s story
Description: "This story was originally published on Medium.com/@UN_Women Across the world, millions of women and girls live in the long shadows of human trafficking. Whether ensnared by force, coercion, or deception, they live in limbo, in fear, in pain. Because human trafficking operates in darkness, it’s difficult to get exact numbers of victims. However, the vast majority of detected trafficking victims are women and girls, and three out of four are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Wherever there is poverty, conflict and gender inequality, women’s and girls’ lives are at-risk for exploitation. Human trafficking is a heinous crime that shatters lives, families and dreams. On World Day against Trafficking in Persons, three women survivors tell us their stories. Their words are testament to their incredible resilience and point toward the urgency for action to prosecute perpetrators and support survivors along their journeys to restored dignity, health and hope. Karimova comes full circle. When she was 22 years old, Luiza Karimova left her home in Uzbekistan and travelled to Osh, Kyrgyzstan with the hopes of finding work. However, without a Kyrgyz ID or university degree, Karimova struggled to find employment. When a woman offered her a waitressing job in Bishkek, the capital city in the north of Kyrgyzstan, she welcomed the opportunity..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UN Women via Reliefweb
Date of publication: 2019-07-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar women discuss discrimination
Description: "SUNY Cortland hosted two women activists from Myanmar on Thursday, Sept. 5, for a day of conversations about the collision of faith, feminism and ethnicity in their country, which is struggling with longstanding inequality among various groups of people. Thet Su Htwe, M.D., a Muslim doctor who runs sexuality education programs that go against conservative cultural norms, and Kyaw Thein, a member of Myanmar’s oppressed Rohingya minority who faced discrimination in the male-dominated field of civil engineering, met with the campus community during several events throughout the day. Two of the events were open to the public, who were invited to attend free of charge. “Being Muslim and Female in Myanmar: Two Perspectives,” was presented by Htwe and Thein as a sandwich seminar from noon to 1 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. “Education in Myanmar and the Challenges of Diversity” featured Htwe and Thein in a panel discussion from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 104. Moderated by Jeremy Jimenez, a Cortland assistant professor of foundations and social advocacy, the panel also included Thamora Fishel, associate director of Cornell University’s Southeast Asia Program; Rhoda Linton, a longtime advocate for women’s education and empowerment in Burma; and Cornell University doctoral students..."
Source/publisher: "SUNY Cortland"
Date of publication: 2019-08-30
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Hpa-an Incident Report: Rape case in Nabu (T’Nay Hsah) Township, 2018 Rainy Season
Topic: Rape or other sexual violence
Topic: Rape or other sexual violence
Description: "During the 2018 rainy season, Naw H--- was raped by a close male relative in A--- village, Ta Nay Hsah Township. He lured the victim into his hill farm and raped her in his hut. Naw H--- has an intellectual disability. She did not tell anyone about the rape, but the village leaders questioned her when she started showing signs of pregnancy. At first, she did not tell them who the true perpetrator was, but she ultimately accused her relative after giving birth to a child. The village leaders arrested and interrogated him on April 27th 2019. He admitted that he had raped Naw H---. Therefore, the village leaders subjected him to physical punishment, after which he was released. The perpetrator was not brought before a formal court of law. The victim received no compensation and still lives in the same village as the perpetrator. Currently, Naw H--- is staying with another close relative, and her child was adopted by someone living abroad..."
Source/publisher: "Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)"
Date of publication: 2019-09-09
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 156.81 KB
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Title: A Shortage of Women in China Has Led to the Trafficking of ‘Brides’ From Myanmar, Says a Report
Description: "Authorities on both sides of the border have failed to stop the trafficking of hundreds of women from Myanmar to China, says a new report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday. The 112-page report, titled Give Us a Baby and We’ll Let You Go: Trafficking of Kachin ‘Brides’ from Myanmar to China, documents anecdotal evidence from 37 victims of the trafficking trade who later escaped, and several families of trafficking victims. The women, originating from Myanmar’s northern Shan and Kachin States, were typically sold for between $3,000 to $13,000 after being lured across the border by the promise of good jobs. Many of the victims testify to being locked up, raped and forced to bear the children of their captors. The report’s author says that China’s now abolished one-child policy, which began in 1979, is a major cause of the current trafficking crisis because it created a gender imbalance in China. Forced to have only one child, Chinese parents often abandoned female babies or had sex-selective abortions in favor of males, leading to a shortfall in the female population of an estimated 30 to 40 million..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Time"
Date of publication: 2019-03-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Full report: Sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar and the gendered impact of its ethnic conflicts - A/HRC/42/CRP.4
Description: "1. In its report to the Human Rights Council in September 20181 (hereinafter “the 2018 Report”), the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (hereinafter “The Mission”) concluded that “rape and other sexual violence have been a particularly egregious and recurrent feature of the targeting of the civilian population in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States since 2011”. 2. The Mission found that sexual and gender-based violence was a hallmark of the Tatmadaw’s operations in northern Myanmar and in Rakhine. These violations, for most part perpetrated against ethnic women and girls, were used with the intent to intimidate, terrorise and punish the civilian population and as a tactic of war. The Tatmadaw was overwhelmingly the main perpetrator. 3. Two years after the “clearance operations” against the Rohingya population in Rakhine, and one year since the publication of the Mission’s findings, accountability for these egregious acts remains elusive. The Mission felt compelled to issue this thematic report, further exposing these grave violations that the Mission considers amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide. 4. In examining the situation of sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar, the Mission also reviewed the situation of gender inequality in Myanmar more broadly. It found a direct nexus between the lack of gender equality more generally within the country and within ethnic communities, and the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence. Impunity for gender-based violence in Myanmar is exacerbated by underlying gender inequality. Ethnic women and girls are doubly victimised: as women and girls and as members of ethnic minority communities. 5. In its 2018 report, the Mission found that men and boys have also been victims of sexual and gender-based violence by security forces. On 23 April 2019, in its resolution 2467, the Security Council recognized that sexual and gender-based violence also targets men and boys in armed conflict and post-conflict settings, as well as in the context of detention settings, and in the context of those associated with armed groups. Violent conflict impacts men, women, boys, girls and those with diverse gender identities differently. While there is an increasing awareness of the importance of gender in efforts to build sustainable peace, much of the focus has been on women and girls. The experiences of men and boys have not been understood well. Against this background, the Mission conducted further investigations into the situation of sexual and gender-based violence against men and boys in the context of Myanmar’s ethnic conflicts and found that they have been subjected to sexual and gender-based violence, especially in the context of detention settings. The physical and psychological consequences are severe and far-reaching, exacerbated by the stigma attached to male rape..."
Source/publisher: The United Nations Human Rights Council (A/HRC/42/CRP.4)
Date of publication: 2019-08-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 736.97 KB
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Title: Sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar and the gendered impact of its ethnic conflicts (Brief) - မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာ နှင့် ကျား/မ အခြေပြု အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများနှင့်၊ တိုင်းရင်းသား ပဋိပက္ခများက လိင်အုပ်စုတစ်စုစီကို တမျိုးစီ ကွဲပြားစွာသက်ရောက်ပုံ။ (အကျဉ်းချုပ်)
Description: "မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာ နှင့် ကျား/မ အခြေပြု အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများနှင့်၊ တိုင်းရင်းသား ပဋိပက္ခများက လိင်အုပ်စုတစ်စုစီကို တမျိုးစီ ကွဲပြားစွာသက်ရောက်ပုံ။ (အကျဉ်းချုပ်)...(၂၀၁၈) စက်တင်ဘာလတွင် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကောင်စီသို့ ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သော အစီရင်ခံစာ (ယခုမစ၍ "၂၀၁၈ အစီရင်ခံစာ") အတွင်း မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ သီးသန့်လွတ်လပ်သော နိုင်ငံတကာ အချက်အလက်ရှာဖွေရေးကော်မစ်ရှင် (ယခုမစ၍ "ကော်မစ်ရှင်က" "(၂၀၁၁) ခုနှစ်မှစ၍ ရခိုင်၊ ကချင်နှင့်ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်များရှိ အရပ်သားပြည်သူများကို ပစ်မှတ်ထားသော ကျူးလွန်မှုများတွင် မုဒိမ်းမှုနှင့်လိင်ဆိုင်ရာ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများသည် အလွန်အကျွံဆိုးရွားပြီး၊ အဖန်တလဲလဲ ဖြစ်ပွါးနေသော လက္ခဏာတရပ်ဖြစ်သည်"ဟုကောက်ချက်ချခဲ့သည်။..."
Source/publisher: The United Nations Human Rights Council (A/HRC/42/CRP.4)
Date of publication: 2019-08-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 295.93 KB 467.77 KB
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Title: UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar Calls for Justice for Victims of Sexual and Gender-based Violence - လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာနှင့် ကျားမ အခြေပြု အကြမ်းဖက်ခံရသူများအတွက် တရားမျှတမှုကို ကုလသမဂအချက်အလက်ရှာဖွေရေးမစ်ရှင် တောင်းဆိုချက် (Full en+bu versions)
Description: "1. In its report to the Human Rights Council in September 20181 (hereinafter “the 2018 Report”), the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (hereinafter “The Mission”) concluded that “rape and other sexual violence have been a particularly egregious and recurrent feature of the targeting of the civilian population in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States since 2011”. 2. The Mission found that sexual and gender-based violence was a hallmark of the Tatmadaw’s operations in northern Myanmar and in Rakhine. These violations, for most part perpetrated against ethnic women and girls, were used with the intent to intimidate, terrorise and punish the civilian population and as a tactic of war. The Tatmadaw was overwhelmingly the main perpetrator. 3. Two years after the “clearance operations” against the Rohingya population in Rakhine, and one year since the publication of the Mission’s findings, accountability for these egregious acts remains elusive. The Mission felt compelled to issue this thematic report, further exposing these grave violations that the Mission considers amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide. 4. In examining the situation of sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar, the Mission also reviewed the situation of gender inequality in Myanmar more broadly. It found a direct nexus between the lack of gender equality more generally within the country and within ethnic communities, and the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence. Impunity for gender-based violence in Myanmar is exacerbated by underlying gender inequality. Ethnic women and girls are doubly victimised: as women and girls and as members of ethnic minority communities. 5. In its 2018 report, the Mission found that men and boys have also been victims of sexual and gender-based violence by security forces. On 23 April 2019, in its resolution 2467, the Security Council recognized that sexual and gender-based violence also targets men and boys in armed conflict and post-conflict settings, as well as in the context of detention settings, and in the context of those associated with armed groups. Violent conflict impacts men, women, boys, girls and those with diverse gender identities differently. While there is an increasing awareness of the importance of gender in efforts to build sustainable peace, much of the focus has been on women and girls. The experiences of men and boys have not been understood well. Against this background, the Mission conducted further investigations into the situation of sexual and gender-based violence against men and boys in the context of Myanmar’s ethnic conflicts and found that they have been subjected to sexual and gender-based violence, especially in the context of detention settings. The physical and psychological consequences are severe and far-reaching, exacerbated by the stigma attached to male rape......မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာနှင့် ကျား/မ အခြေပြု အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများနှင့်၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားပဋိပက္ခများက လိင်အုပ်စုတစ်စုစီကို တစ်မျိုးစီ ကွဲပြားစွာ သက်ရောက်ပုံ။..."
Source/publisher: The United Nations Human Rights Council (A/HRC/42/CRP.4)
Date of publication: 2019-08-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 736.96 KB 295.93 KB 520.23 KB
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Title: UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar Calls for Justice for Victims of Sexual and Gender-based Violence - လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာနှင့် ကျားမ အခြေပြု အကြမ်းဖက်ခံရသူများအတွက် တရားမျှတမှုကို ကုလသမဂအချက်အလက်ရှာဖွေရေးမစ်ရှင် တောင်းဆိုချက် (Press Releases)
Description: "The U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar said the country’s military must stop using sexual and gender-based violence to terrorise and punish ethnic minorities. The Mission said the brutal tactic was still being employed in Kachin and Shan states, and was so severe in Rakhine State, during the “clearance operations” of 2017, that it was a factor indicating the Myanmar military’s genocidal intent to destroy the Rohingya population. The Mission made its conclusions in a new report, released Thursday in New York, that soldiers routinely and systematically employed rape, gang rape and other violent and forced sexual acts against women, girls, boys, men and transgender people in blatant violation of international human rights law. “Extreme physical violence, the openness in which it is conducted … reflects a widespread culture of tolerance towards humiliation and the deliberate infliction of severe physical and mental pain or suffering on civilians,” the report said. Marzuki Darusman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, said, “The international community must hold the Myanmar military to account for the tremendous pain and suffering it has inflicted on persons of all genders across the country.” The Mission conducted interviews with hundreds of survivors and witnesses of sexual violence in Kachin and Shan States in the north, and in Rakhine State in the west, where the military’s “clearance operations” that began on 25 August 2017 led to more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh. On the second anniversary of the beginning of the operations, this report is an important reminder of the continuing need for accountability...လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာနှင့် ကျားမ အခြေပြု အကြမ်းဖက်ခံရသူများအတွက် တရားမျှတမှုကို ကုလသမဂအချက်အလက်ရှာဖွေရေးမစ်ရှင် တောင်းဆိုချက်..."
Source/publisher: The United Nations Human Rights Council (A/HRC/42/CRP.4)
Date of publication: 2019-08-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 736.96 KB 467.77 KB
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Title: Until her bones are broken: Myanmar women's unending fight against domestic violence
Sub-title: Myanmar's Penal Code, which dates back to the British colonial era, is vague and rarely used to prosecute cases of domestic violence. Its definition of rape is narrow and excludes marital rape.
Description: "Cradling her one-year-old daughter in a house in southern Myanmar, 22-year-old Nu Nu Aye recalled the reasons her husband gave for beating her. She hadn't looked after his rooster. She wouldn't have sex with him. In a meeting brokered by a village elder, he said he would beat her when "necessary". "His abuse got worse after that," she said. Finally, he tried to strangle her while she was sleeping. In Myanmar, where the US-funded Demographic and Health Survey suggested at least one-fifth of women are abused by a partner - a figure activists say is likely an underestimate because many cases are not reported - there is no specific law against domestic violence. Women such as Nu Nu Aye, whose account Reuters could not independently verify, usually rely on intervention by local leaders to arrange settlements with partners whose abuse is largely regarded as a private affair..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "India Today" via Reuters
Date of publication: 2019-08-16
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar and Bangladesh to start sending back thousands of Rohingya
Sub-title: Fresh attempt at repatriations agreed but refugees fear they will return to persecution and violence
Description: "Myanmar and Bangladesh are to make a fresh attempt to begin repatriating the Rohingya Muslims who fled ethnic cleansing in Rahkine state in 2017, though the community say they have not been consulted. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled over to border to Bangladesh after a military-led crackdown in Rahkine state which saw villages razed, women raped and thousands killed. A UN fact-finding mission declared the violence had “genocidal intent”. A document prepared by UN agency UNHCR to be sent to the Rohingya community to inform them of the repatriation plan said: “The Government of Myanmar has confirmed that 3,450 Rohingya refugees are eligible to return. This is a welcome first step as it acknowledges that your right to return is recognized.” According to UNHCR, the Bangladesh government shared the names of Rohingya approved for repatriation with the UN agency on 8 August. Louise Donovan, a UNHCR spokeswoman in Cox’s Bazar, said: “If any express the intention to return voluntarily, UNHCR will meet with them on an individual basis and in a confidential setting to confirm the voluntariness of their decision and complete a voluntary repatriation form. The refugees will make the decision themselves.” She emphasised that “refugees who decide to exercise their right to return must be able to return to their places of origin or a place of their choice.” However, the situation is complex as UNHCR have no access to Rahkine state so are unable to verify first hand the conditions the Rohingya would be returning to. “Responsibility for ensuring conditions are conducive for safe and dignified return rests with Myanmar,” said Donovan..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Guardian"
Date of publication: 2019-08-16
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: “Women cannot exercise their #rights and #choices to access to contraceptive services”
Description: “Women and their partners still need accurate information about contraceptive choices. In some circumstances, women cannot exercise their #rights and #choices to access to contraceptive services.” At ICPD25, What’s Changed in Myanmar in the area of sexuality education, and what’s the Unfinished Business?..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UNFPA MYANMAR
Date of publication: 2019-08-09
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: IOM Bangladesh Rohingya Crisis Response - Monthly Situation Report (June 2019)
Sub-title: ROHINGYA WOMEN SPEARHEAD WORLD REFUGEE DAY COMMEMORATIONS
Description: "Rohingya refugees took the lead in celebrating World Refugee Day – an internationally-recognized event commemorated around the world. In the Kutupalong Rohingya camps, 120 women and girls held a full slate of activities that ran throughout the day focusing on highlighting the unique culture of their homeland. The women were forced from Myanmar in mid-2017 and are housed in refugee camps just miles from the international border in Bangladesh. In the weeks preparing for World Refugee Day, the women said they wanted to gather together as they did in Myanmar and cook and eat foods they used to enjoy. “One of the things most missed by the women and girls is the simple act of having community meals together – food is a very important part of the Rohingya culture, but when the fighting started and the movement restrictions happened, they had to stop,” said Gender-Based Violence Coordinator Rumpa Dey. World Refugee Day offered an opportunity to plan a potluck-style meal where they sourced ingredients typical of their homeland and prepared dishes for an event at the IOM Women and Girls Safe Spaces. Finding ingredients was straight forward because Rohingya cuisine is similar to food in Bangladesh’s Chittagong region where the camps are located, said Dey. The food unique to this cross-border area relies heavily on ingredients such as salted, dry fish; steamed and pureed aubergine; and a popular dish named Morichvorta made from crushed chilis. Other Rohingya dishes at the event could be easily seen at Indian and Bangladeshi tables such as chicken curry and egg fried rice. Dey explained that the women and girls also served Biryani, “which is a Bangladeshi dish and isn’t Rohingya at all, but was given to them in the camps and they liked very much.” The celebrations were financed by the attendees’ own income earned by an arts and crafts fair held on 8 March. “A community meeting was held where they decided on their own how to spend the proceeds.” Dey highlighted that the effort is an act of empowerment on the part of the women: “It’s good to see women organizing and making decisions in this way.” The event’s success also highlights the importance of IOM’s Women and Girls Safe Spaces. “There are a lot of cultural and social pressures and security concerns that act to keep women in the house and prevent them from being active in their communities. The Women and Girls Safe Spaces helps create a female-only environment where women can get together for events, to socialise or to learn new skills,” Dey added..."
Source/publisher: reliefweb via International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Date of publication: 2019-06-30
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 831.69 KB
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Title: Kachin conflict or Kachin War
Description: What Future Do We Have?' Caught in the Crossfire of Myanmar's Northern Conflict, Civilians See Little Hope
Source/publisher: Sky News
Date of publication: 2018-06-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Development Without Women Is Not Development: Why Gender Matters To The Asian Development Bank
Description: "The content of the publication Development Without Women Is Not Development: Why Gender Matters to the Asian Development Bank—drawn from various articles of the bi-annually published SEAGEN Waves Newsletter: Gender and Development News—was produced by Uzma S. Hoque, former senior social sector specialist (Gender and Development) of the Southeast Asia Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB). Assistance provided by Karen Emmons in the preparation of individual feature stories as part of a broader compilation of women’s narratives in Southeast Asia is recognized. The support of Laurence Levaque, senior social sector specialist (Gender and Development), Rikard Elfving, senior social sector specialist, Zonibel Woods, senior gender specialist and Southeast Asia Department national gender consultants (former and present) Leavides G. Domingo-Cabarrubias, Claire Angeline P. Luczon, and Joanne Carmela Barriga Quintana, in the coordination and completion of the booklet, is greatly appreciated. Gender specialists, Chandy Chea, Theonakhet Saphakdy, Giang T. Nguyen, and colleagues from ADB resident missions in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, and Viet Nam have assisted in the collection of narratives and photos from their respective countries. Administration support was facilitated by Maria Angelica Magali Vivar and Ruchel Marie Grace Rea Roque-Villaroman. Thanks is extended to the Department of Communications for their assistance in publishing the booklet. Coordination support has been carried out by Ma. Katrina M. Fernando from ADB Department of Communications. Proofreading services were rendered by Ma. Theresa Arago. Edith Creus prepared the layout design for the booklet. The women in Southeast Asia, whose stories are presented in the publication, are gratefully acknowledged. Their narratives articulate aspirations toward empowerment and inspire ADB’s commitment on accelerating progress in gender equality as prioritized in the ADB’s Strategy 2030: Achieving a Prosperous, Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Asia and the Pacific..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Asia Development Bank (ADB)
Date of publication: 2019-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 1.67 MB
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Title: Myanmar strengthens responses to address gender based violence
Description: "Representatives from the Myanmar Police Force (MPF) and UNODC convened for a workshop in Nay Pyi Taw to address necessary areas of reform in the MPF's response to gender based violence - a core tenet of which is the development of Standard Operating Procedures to make responses addressing Gender Based Violence (GBV) more effective. The workshop marked an important step forward in the Government of Myanmar and the MPF's commitment to tackling the serious issue of GBV in Myanmar, and produced a firm foundation from which to move forward so that UNODC, working together with UNFPA and the MPF, can support the police in Myanmar to develop effective and efficient response guidelines for cases of GBV. Concluding with the commitment to further work on a strategy in the near future, the workshop was met with great optimism from all participants, and represented a decisive first step towards combating GBV in Myanmar. "Violence against women is one of the most widespread violations of human rights," stated UNODC Myanmar's Country Manager, Mr. Troels Vester. 'UNODC congratulates the MPF for committing to do something about this issue, and thanks the police for taking it seriously." The MPF Chief of Staff expressed in his opening remarks the MPF's commitment to reform their policies in line with democratic standards, and Mr. Vester recognised that participating in the workshop was the 'first step' towards doing this. UNODC's National Workshop was designed to introduce the MPF to various response and investigative techniques for responding to cases of GBV. In collaboration with the UNFPA under the joint Women and Girls First Initiative, UNODC will provide support to the MPF to develop guidelines and standard operating procedures for such situations, and eventually draft a standardised response guide for all members of the MPF..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
Date of publication: 2017-03-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Strengthening law enforcement responses to gender based violence in Myanmar
Description: "UNODC today launched a new training series tailored for the Myanmar Police Force (MPF) on gender based violence (GBV), which will train officers and police instructors on all aspects of gender awareness and gender based violence, with a focus on case management and victim-oriented investigation techniques. The programme is being implemented by UNODC under the Women and Girls First initiative, which is being managed by UNFPA and of which UNODC an implementing partner. UNODC has been partnering closely with the MPF to develop an effective response system to GBV by developing police standard operating procedures, training manuals, as well as the review of the police recruitment strategy to promote female participation in the MPF. UNODC will further facilitate training of instructors and frontline officers to prevent and respond to cases of violence against women in Myanmar and its conflict affected regions. The first training event in Yangon was attended by 36 Myanmar Police Officers, who were actively involved in the learning process. It provided a promising example for future training and reflects the Government of Myanmar's continuing commitment to address violence against women. In his opening remarks, Brigadier General Mya Win thanked UNODC for organising the session, and highlighted Myanmar's ongoing development process: "In this period of transition towards democracy, we are striving towards equal rights for women, and to respond to crimes against women, it is vital to provide training to the Myanmar Police Force", he said. "Change must start from within, which is why the MPF is trying to achieve greater gender balance by working to ensure that the roles of responsibility are distributed equally between male and female officers." UNODC Myanmar Country Manager Troels Vester drew attention to the gravity and complexity of violence against women by highlighting the fact that one in every two women murdered is killed by an intimate partner or a family member, and investigation in familial situations such as these can be hindered by family history and emotional distress. Despite such difficulties, Mr. Vester expressed his hope that "the training would allow officers to better investigate gender based violence, while respecting human rights." The three-day workshop will also allow participants to better understand the psychological needs of victims/survivors of GBV. Daw Khin Zar Naing, Assistant Representative at UNFPA, stressed that in preventing violence against women and children, the MPF's important role is not just to protect the life and property of the people, but to also provide "psychological protection". "Those who have grown up in an environment of violence are often being shaped to also become people who perpetrate violence," she said..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
Date of publication: 2017-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Combating the rise of violence against women and children
Description: "On July 5th, UNODC, UNICEF, UNFPA and the Union Attorney General's Office (UAGO) met in Nay Pyi Taw to discuss combating the rise in violence against Myanmar's women and children. The high-level needs assessment workshop on 'Effective Prosecution Responses to Cases of Violence Against Women and Children' aimed to assess the needs of Myanmar's prosecutors in effectively prosecuting and supporting victims of gender based violence (GBV) and child cases. During the workshop, dozens of representatives from the UAGO took part in group discussions on the challenges law officers face in responding to cases of violence against women and children. Challenges included inter-agency cooperation, the referral process for survivors, evidence-gathering, and addressing language barriers in courts for ethnic minorities. Exchanges were also made between representatives from UNODC, UNICEF, the UNFPA and the workshop participants on best practices and opportunities to strengthen the justice sector's ability to protect survivors, enact justice, and ensure fair trials. The workshop builds on a growing history of cooperation between UNODC and Myanmar's criminal justice sector on responding to GBV. Since 2016, a partnership between UNODC and the Myanmar Police Force (MPF) has resulted in several officer trainings on gender and gender-based violence awareness, with a focus on case management and victim-oriented investigation techniques. The UAGO workshop was in line with the UN's own efforts at reform by promoting inter-agency collaboration and adherence to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Addressing SDG 5 Gender Equality, SDG 16 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions, and SDG 17 Partnership for the Goals, the joint workshop between UNODC, UNICEF and UNFPA was a successful in utilizing individual UN mandates and strengths to promote an integrated approach to the issues. In his keynote address, his excellency U Tun Tun Oo, Union Attorney General, stressed how important it is to bring justice to survivors. The Union Attorney General's message highlighted the importance especially in light of figures released earlier this year by the Ministry of Home Affairs, showing a significant rise in the number of reported cases of sexual assault. To an audience featuring representatives from the UAGO, civil society organisations and the press, the Union Attorney General expressed the Myanmar Government's resolve to "better protect women and children in the future against violence directed at them". Speaking at the event, UNODC advisor Marie Pegie Cauchois recognised the timeliness of the workshop. The Child Rights Law is expected to be adopted by the Myanmar Parliament later this year and the Prevention of Violence Against Women Law is still being drafted. She highlighted that, "for the successful implementation of these laws, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, capacity building of the justice sector will be needed". In ending the workshop, UNODC, UNICEF and the UNFPA thanked the members of the justice sector for their active participation and recognised the importance of hearing and exchanging with practitioners to identify needs and avenues for cooperation moving forward. They also shared their readiness to continue work with the UAGO in developing training and other required materials..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
Date of publication: 2018-07-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Criminal justice agencies join hands to confront gender-based violence in Myanmar
Description: "The 25th of November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the start of the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence. Violence against women and girls continues to be one of the most widespread and systematic violations of human rights. For far too long, we have lived in a society where women and girls who experience violence are blamed and their testimonies are systematically put in doubt. The voices of millions of other women and girls continue to be silenced or muffled due to systemic injustice. UNODC confronts gender-based violence by enhancing the capacity of police, prosecutors, judges and other members of the criminal justice system to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. In 2018, UNODC Myanmar, with support of the UNFPA Women and Girls First Initiative, carried out a number of training workshops with the Myanmar Police Force and with the Union Attorney General's Office. The training covered gender awareness, understanding root causes, myths and stereotypes of violence against women, preventive approaches and survivor centered and gender-sensitive responses to criminal investigations and trials. Through discussions at these training events, police officers and prosecutors highlighted the need for a coordinated multi-sector criminal justice response to gender-based violence. Criminal justice responses work best when health, social and other sectors join the common effort to protect and empower women and hold perpetrators accountable. To this end, UNODC supported the Myanmar Police Force in hosting the first Inter-Agency Workshop on Coordinating Policing and Justice Responses to Gender-based Violence, held on 19-20 of November in Nay Pyi Taw. Members of Supreme Court of the Union, the Union Attorney General's Office, the Myanmar Police Force, the Ministry of Health, and the Department of Social Welfare met to discuss coordination challenges and strategies to improve responses to cases of violence against women and girls. Special attention was paid to ensuring that all solutions put the needs and the security of the victim first, while ensuring the right to a fair trial for all. The meeting was also coordinated with UNFPA and UNICEF and attended by UN Women and WHO..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
Date of publication: 2018-11-25
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: UNODC celebrates International Women's Day
Description: "For International Women's Day, UNODC joins millions of women around the world in celebration of their social, political, economic achievements. This year's international theme "Think equal, build smart and innovate for change" advocates for innovative ways in which we can advance gender parity in all sectors and empower women and girls. Myanmar's country celebrated International Women's Day with a leadership training aimed at women farmers, cooperative board members and UNODC staff. The participants are part of UNODC's Alternative Development sub-programme. This programme is based in Southern Shan State, and aids farmers in switching from producing opium crops to growing coffee. This also included the establishment of a coffee cooperative, "Green Gold". A major achievement of the programme in 2018 was the modification of the statute of the cooperative in order to allow for a greater and more active participation of women within the cooperative. The administrative board of the cooperative is composed of 16 active members, with an equal participation of men and women. #BalanceforBetter emphasizes innovation as a critical tool to challenge inequalities and to accelerate gender equality through women's empowerment. It is through innovation that the Green Gold Cooperative was formed, especially through introducing a gender-balanced administrative board. As Joelle Charbonneau, UNODC Gender Advisor, commented, "I can say proudly that you all have already made an important advancement towards gender equality, with the modification of the composition of the Administrative Board of Green Gold and the creation of committees at village level with an important participation of women. My invitation is to continue working in that direction, together with your husbands, relatives and friends." The International Women's Day leadership workshop was aimed at the female representatives of the cooperative, as well as other female farmers and staff in leadership roles. The workshop began with a panel of speakers, including women from the Gender Equality Network, the Shan's Women's Organization Network, the Women's Development Society and the Women Entrepreneur Association from Shan State. The women spoke about their experiences in starting their own businesses, promoting their ethnic group's culture and literature, fighting for education, and advocating and working with the government to promote women's rights and leadership. Participants also engaged in a leadership workshop and discussed challenges and solutions on achieving women's equality within their daily roles..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
Date of publication: 2019-03-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Discussing Gender and Migration: Nay Pyi Taw CHIME Workshop
Creator/author: Dr. Hnin Shwe Zin Hlaing
Source/publisher: IOM Myanmar
Date of publication: 2019-06-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Title: “Give Us a Baby and We’ll Let You Go” Trafficking of Kachin “Brides” from Myanmar to China
Description: "Seng Moon’s family fled fighting in Myanmar’s Kachin State in 2011 and wound up struggling to survive in a camp for internally displaced people. In 2014, when Seng Moon was 16 and attending fifth grade, her sister-in-law said she knew of a job as a cook in China’s neighboring Yunnan province. Seng Moon did not want to go, but the promised wage was far more than she could make living in the IDP camp, so her family decided she shouldn’t pass it up. In the car, Seng Moon’s sister-in-law gave her something she said prevented car sickness. Seng Moon fell asleep immediately. “When I woke up my hands were tied behind my back,” she said. “I cried and shouted and asked for help.” By then, Seng Moon was in China, where her sister-in-law left her with a Chinese family. After several months her sister-in-law returned and told her, “Now you have to get married to a Chinese man,” and took her to another house. Said Seng Moon: My sister-in-law left me at the home. …The family took me to a room. In that room I was tied up again. …They locked the door—for one or two months.… Each time when the Chinese man brought me meals, he raped me…After two months, they dragged me out of the room. The father of the Chinese man said, “Here is your husband. Now you are a married couple. Be nice to each other and build a happy family.” My sister-in-law left me at the home. …The family took me to a room. In that room I was tied up again. …They locked the door—for one or two months.… Each time when the Chinese man brought me meals, he raped me…After two months, they dragged me out of the room. The father of the Chinese man said, “Here is your husband. Now you are a married couple. Be nice to each other and build a happy family.”
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-03-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: ORAL STATEMENT TO THE CEDAW COMMITTEE ON MYANMAR: REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF WOMEN AND GIRLS FROM NORTHERN RAKHINE STATE
Description: ''After the Myanmar military launched its campaign of ethnic cleansing in August 2017, Human Rights Watch researchers spoke with Rohingya women and girls from 19 villages in Rakhine State who had been raped by security forces. We witnessed their deep pain, shame, and distress, born not only from the recent violence but also from the chronic fear, persecution, and neglect long faced by the Rohingya. In every case of sexual violence described to us, the perpetrators were uniformed members of the security forces – mostly soldiers, some police. All but one of the rapes were gang rapes, often involving groups of soldiers who also sometimes stripped, beat, bit, laughed at, and taunted their victims. Women described soldiers in boots kicking them and beating them with rifles. Fifteen-year-old Hala Sadak had considerable scarring on her leg from where soldiers had stripped her naked and then dragged her from her home to a nearby tree where, she estimates, 10 men raped her from behind. We documented six cases where military units committed “mass rape” of villagers, gathering women and girls in groups and gang raping them, sometimes then locking them in shelters that they set on fire. Many rape victims were murdered. And yet, despite the overwhelming evidence of these and other grave crimes, the Myanmar government continues to assert, as it did in its report to this Committee, that there is “no evidence to support these wild claims.” Civilian and military authorities continue to shield soldiers and their commanders from prosecution. Myanmar’s recent submission to the Committee of denial after denial is a dark document. It shows outrageous disrespect for survivors of rape, for the truth, and for the work of this Committee. It’s an affront to accountability for vicious crimes, and to ending the military’s use of fear – including by rape – to reach its objectives. Widespread sexual violence has long been a hallmark of the Myanmar military’s culture of abuse and impunity, and it is this profound lack of accountability which allows it to continue...''
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch via " Progressive Voice"
Date of publication: 2019-02-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-03-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar’s Hollow Denial of Rape of Rohingya
Description: ''Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, the government of Myanmar denies their armed forces raped Rohingya women and girls in a campaign of ethnic cleansing that forced more than 740,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee the country since late 2017. In a long-delayed submission to the United Nations women’s rights committee this week, Myanmar said there was “no evidence to support these wild claims” – a darkly risible denial to a very painful truth. The overwhelming evidence compiled by Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations, the media, and the UN uncovered gruesome accounts of rape, killings, and other crimes against humanity in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. A UN-backed fact-finding mission said the atrocities included genocidal acts. Hundreds of Rohingya women and girls have said they were raped. I spoke to dozens of them. They risked both renewed trauma and stigma – with little real hope of remedy – to tell their stories. A 15-year-old girl, for instance, said soldiers dragged her out of her hut, tied her to a tree, and then raped her...''
Creator/author: Skye Wheeler
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-02-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Together for Peace, Equality for All: Women’s League of Burma Celebrates 19-Years
Description: ''On December 9, 2018 the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), an umbrella organization comprised of 13-member groups, celebrated nineteen years of activism for women. Over 500 people joined the ceremony for the anniversary, which was held at Inya Lake Hotel, Yangon, to pay tribute to generations of reformers and to commemorate the events that happened since December 1999, when the second forum of the Women’s Organization of Burma was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The goal of this summit was to encourage a dialogue that would maintain the spirit of the Pang Long Agreement – an understanding reached in 1947 which sought to make Burma a Union of equal and independent states but was never implemented. The women in attendance at the summit further explored their ideas and views on how to overcome long-ingrained gender stereotypes they believed were holding the country back from progress. A platform was needed to give women of different ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds a voice. Thus, the Women’s League of Burma was established...''
Creator/author: Nang Kham Awn, Maggi Quadrini
Date of publication: 2019-01-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Sexual violence against women and girls: A year in review
Description: ''Another year has drawn to a close and the global calls for the end of violence against women and girls which occur every November 25th on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women are still fresh in our minds. It led us here at the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) to reflect on the progress (or lack thereof) we have seen over the past year in Burma in protecting and promoting the rights of women and young girls. What we have seen has been dissatisfying to say the least. Official police statistics and community-based organizations (CBOs) continue to report an upward trend in reports of sexual violence against both women and children, and the increase in the number of reported cases involving children is particularly troublesome. In February, the Ministry of Home Affairs released crime statistics for 2017, which showed that 1,405 rapes were reported across Burma in 2017, including 897 cases against children—an increase of over 33% from the previous year...''
Creator/author: Janeen Sawatzky
Source/publisher: TEACIRCLEOXFORD
Date of publication: 2019-01-14
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Dooplaya Incident Report: Child Rape Case, March 2018
Description: A fifteen-year-old girl, Naw M---, was raped by her brother-in-law Saw H---.The incident took place on Monday, 12 March 2018 at 11 PM in Poe Yay village tract, Kyainseikgyi Township. This incident happened at night, when everyone was sleeping. Saw H--- approached his sister-in-law and took off all of her clothes while she was sleeping. She woke up with a jolt and realized that she had no more clothes on her and that there was a person on top of her. When she started shouting, Saw H--- put his hands over her mouth. She could not shout or even move because her brother-in-law was much stronger than her. The perpetrator is over 30 years old. He was drunk when he raped Naw M---. He had a reputation for having a bad character and acting inappropriately towards his wife and his sister-in-law. Naw M---’s sister did not hear or witness the rape. She was sleeping at the time. The next morning, Naw M--- told her sister that she was raped. Her sister confronted her Saw H--- about this, but he denied any wrongdoing. Instead, he threw a shot glass at her.
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 1970-01-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 667.11 KB
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Title: Myanmar: Women Breaking and Making the Rules
Description: ''There’s a popular idea, perpetuated by colonialists, Western travelers, and national historians, that women in Myanmar have long enjoyed status equal to men. I have heard this myself from Burma experts who didn’t understand why I, a gender policy specialist, wanted to go to Myanmar. But historian Tharaphi Than, author of Women in Modern Burma, has a different view. There have been a few powerful women in Myanmar, she argues, but their stories, told again and again, have crowded out the stories of the unequal majority. Yet, as I was also beginning to learn, Myanmar has a rich history of women who refused to play by the rules—journalists who kept writing, artists who kept painting, and soldiers who kept serving their country even when they were attacked, dismissed, and demeaned. Which is why I was here in Mandalay, to gather those less-told stories of remarkable women, past and present, for a children’s book that would inspire a new generation of Myanmar girls to dream big...''
Source/publisher: Asia Foundation
Date of publication: 2018-10-10
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Towards Inclusive Cities: Women and Urban Planning in Myanmar
Description: The world’s cities are growing at an unprecedented rate. The United Nations projects that 60 percent of the world’s population will be living in cities by 2030 due to accelerating migration and urbanization. In ''Myanmar, as in other rapidly urbanizing countries, urban growth is placing increasing pressure on municipalities and other governing bodies to deliver quality public services that are responsive to local needs. In this environment, effective urban planning is of the utmost importance, but urban planning that is not inclusive, that overlooks or ignores the life experiences and unique needs of certain demographic groups, will inevitably deny those groups equal access to the social, economic, and political benefits of urban life. The Asia Foundation has conducted the first multi-city survey in Myanmar that specifically focuses on the well-being and life experiences of urban dwellers. The pilot City Life Survey polled 1,400 residents of the cities of Yangon, Taunggyi, and Hpa-an with the aim of analyzing various facets of urban life in Myanmar—from work, public transit, and taxation to green spaces. It provides preliminary data for municipal leaders to become better informed and more responsive to their constituents’ needs. With gender-disaggregated data and an equal representation of men and women respondents, the report offers new insight into the different urban life experiences of these two fundamental demographic groups...''
Source/publisher: Asia Foundation
Date of publication: 2018-08-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Kachin State and Northern Shan State, Burma
Description: ''According to a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) report, the Burma Army captured, tortured, raped, and killed six Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) female medics on July 11 after the Burma Army ambushed vehicles carrying the medics. The Burma Army also killed one TNLA soldier in the onset of the attack, and another TNLA soldier and two civilians fled the Burma Army assault against the two timber trucks that transported the group. Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 301 under Light Infantry Division (LID) 88 ambushed the vehicles as they traveled from Magwe Baw Bum to Oi Law Village in Namkham Township. The medics were captured around 1330 on the 11th, and their bodies were discovered near a pipeline outside of Oi Law Village on July 14 with severe wounds to two of the medics’ heads, multiple cut wounds on their bodies and signs of mutilation and rape...''
Date of publication: 1970-01-01
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony (video)
Description: "The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 jointly to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict."
Creator/author: Nadia Murad, Denis Mukwege
Source/publisher: Norwegian Nobel Committee
Date of publication: 2018-12-10
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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